Aston Villa play host to Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich Town on Saturday. The claret and blue remain desperate for three points after falling under manager Steve Bruce.
A home match against Ipswich should be the real deal for Aston Villa. 1. The club is at home. 2. Villa Park has been somewhat of a fortress lately, despite the horrible road woes for the club. 3. The new January signings trained fully this week in preparation. During Brentford last weekend, many only had a few days. 4. Lastly, they are playing a club below them in the league table.
As such, this match is a certified must-win for Steve Bruce. He obtained his players – eight of them in total. He must now show some semblance of a tactical plan for his side. After weeks of shifting systems and personnel, he must settle on his preferred formation to improve continuity.
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Aston Villa will be without Mile Jedinak and Gabby Agbonlahor as they continue to nurse a groin and hamstring injury, respectively.
Neil Taylor is fit after recovering from an illness. He remains a good bet to start.
Ipswich Town are fully fit after midfielder Tom Lawrence recovered from a minor knock last week.
Without further ado, our projected Villa lineup:
PROJECTED ASTON VILLA XI (3-4-3): Johnstone; Chester, Elphick, Baker; Bree, Lansbury, Bjarnason, Taylor; Hourihane, Hogan, Kodjia.
Substitutes: Bunn, Hutton, Bacuna, Amavi, Gardner, Green, Adomah.
Steve Bruce may try his luck again with a 3-4-3. Despite a 2-1 embarrassing loss at the hands of Nottingham Forest, Bruce will want to see Neil Taylor in action with a left wingback role.
Sam Johnstone continues in goal. Hopefully he can play sans the mistakes.
Scott Hogan and Jonathan Kodjia showed glimpses of what they can achieve together as a strike-force. Adding Conor Hourihane just behind them should enhance the quality of service. The problem remains, who plays just behind those three.
Henri Lansbury should not play a holding role alone, but perhaps Birkir Bjarnason beside his will help. After all, Bjarnason is not a wingback.
The back three remains unchanged after Forest; Neil Taylor and James Bree occupy the flanks.
Kickoff is slated for 10:00AM Eastern Time.